Affected or Effective?

God places people in our lives to sharpen us, and for us to sharpen them.

When you are too busy worrying about yourself, He is unable to use you for the purpose He placed you together for. Let me explain…

If you are running all over the place, filling everybody’s wish, making everybody happy, worrying about their reaction, doing what you think you should do, holding up your reputation, trying to be enough to everyone, expecting everyone to be enough for you… then when a situation arises, you will react out of fear of trying to control everything so that you don’t drop all that you are trying to hold up (And by the way, God didn’t ask you to hold it up to begin with.) Rather than respond the way He would like you to.

When you are fearful you will shy in the face of confrontation due to the fact that you may get rejected, and if you get rejected it makes you feel worthless or frustrated or it rubs up against your flesh and hurts.  That’s when it’s about you.

When you are faithful you are willing to stand boldly in the face of rejection and still know that you are good. That’s when it’s about Him & accomplishing HIS purpose.

CEASE STRIVING, Focus on Him, not on the circumstance. Be still, & you will hear from Him, It is then that you can be faithful by responding to what He has asked of you.

When you are fearful, you can be affected...

When you are faithful you can be effective.

There are some words in a song I heard today that have so much power

“When fears are stilled and strivings cease.” There is peace there.

When you understand that, it’s easier to let go of your fears, cease striving and realize that God has it under control.

Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet our heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

You are always given options, it’s called free will. God will never force you to do something. You can REACT to the circumstances around you and be pulled every which way, OR you can surrender your fears to God, trusting He has it under control, stand in the situation and RESPOND the way He is guiding you to. Both work, but one is more efficient than the other.

In this moment, is it about YOU? Or is it about HIM working through you?

Maserati or a Kia?

Many Christians live feeling defeated the majority of their lives. They love Jesus and want to do His will, yet they don’t know where to start & have zero joy while going about their daily business. If a non-believer looks at them, they don’t desire anything of what the Christian possesses.  Because most of them are worn out, over-whelmed, burnt out, grumpy and just plain pissed off. What’s the deal with that? Shouldn’t we be lights to a dark world? Shouldn’t we radiate the joy of Jesus, so that those who don’t know Him WANT to? So why don’t we?

I feel it’s because most Christians don’t know HOW to walk in His strength… The key?

Surrender…

But what does that even mean? HOW do you surrender? Is it physically? Emotionally? Spiritually? What?

I have learned recently that surrender is as simple as God says it is in the bible.

“Whoever seeks to save their life will lose it. Whoever loses their life, will preserve it” ~ Luke 17:33

At first that seems confusing. But when you read this next verse, it becomes ever so simple.

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must DENY THEMSELVES and take up their cross DAILY” ~ Luke 9:23

Surrender is as simple as DAILY denying ourselves and allowing God His way to work through us. No reservations, no fears, no anxiety, no barriers… We give up our rights and become free and flexible for us to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

That’s a simple…yet scary thing to do.

God wants you to become aware of all the things you value the most & all the things you fear the loss of and surrender them to Him… even if that means you don’t get them back.

Are you willing to do that in order to walk in His power? If you’re not that’s OK, He still loves you, even though you will continue to go about things your way.

That way tends to be a bumpy road; reacting to feelings, allowing people to push your buttons, which makes following Jesus so much more difficult than it needs to be.

The way my friend, Lisa, taught all this to me was:

“It’s like trying to drive a Kia the way you would a Maserati. The Kia doesn’t have the horsepower to do all a Maserati can do and you may blow out an engine trying.”

God will let you drive the Kia, He will help you where you are AND still give you the option of taking the keys of the Maserati in exchange for your most valued possessions. 

The Maserati is smooth, it’s able to do immeasurably more than you could ask or imagine. You still have hills to climb, but the horsepower of the Maserati makes them so much easier.

“The enemy wants to destroy you and your future, but God’s redemptive power is released as you let God handle the burden for you!” ~ Suzie Eller.

When you surrender to Jesus, He is taking the weight of your burden & carrying it for you. Don’t pick it back up later in the day! Leave it with Him…and then go about your business.

Knowing God is in control of your situation, allows you to surrender whatever is getting in the way of Him using you. The fears of rejection, of failure, of making a wrong decision, all these heavy weights that you hold on to, give them to Jesus! He will gladly take them from you and in exchange, give you the keys to the Maserati.

Reflection:

Are you ready to drive the Maserati? If so…

Make a list - of all you value the most.

Weigh the cost - of offering Him your valuables, or holding on to them.

Make a choice - surrender…or continue your way.